The Department of Energy recently issued its latest Open Government Plan, and the document recognizes the DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) for advancing open government and the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration by making scientific and technical information (STI) publicly available.

On his first day in office in January 2009, President Obama signed the Memorandum of Transparency and Open Government, which called on agencies to provide “an unprecedented level of openness in government” and instructed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare a directive to “establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration” throughout the federal government. The Administration’s open government directive subsequently issued by OMB required each executive departments and agency to prepare and issue an open government plan in 2010 and every two years thereafter.

OSTI grew out of the post-World War II initiative to make the declassified scientific research of the Manhattan Project as freely available to the public as possible, and throughout its 67-year history, OSTI has built very large collections of energy-related STI, emanating primarily from the work of DOE and its predecessor agencies. Today OSTI makes these STI collections available through sophisticated web products, and its R&D results are accessed more than 400 million times annually.

Image: N. Watson, L. Thompson, MITGenomes of individual organisms and systems of organisms contain the information and operating capabilities that determine structure and function across multiple scales of biological organization. These complex systems hold the secrets of life. Because we do not yet have a full understanding of how a living system works, and how these organisms interact with and modify their environments, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genomic Science Program is working to achieve a predictive, system-level understanding of plants, microbes, and biological communities. This program is providing the foundational knowledge underlying biological approaches to producing biofuels, sequestering carbon in terrestrial ecosystems, and cleaning up contaminated environments.

The National Library of EnergyBeta (NLEBeta), a gateway to information across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is taking on an expanded role in providing access to DOE scientific and technical information (STI) with the retirement of the federated search product Science Accelerator. In addition, the NLEBeta, launched in February 2013, has a redesigned home page and new features that makes it easier to use than ever.

Developed by DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), the NLEBeta search tool makes it easy for American citizens to find and access information about the Department from across the DOE complex nationwide, without knowing DOE’s organizational structure.

3D printing technology is gaining fresh momentum in Department of Energy (DOE) research endeavors. 3D printing is achieved using an additive manufacturing process that creates 3D objects directly from a computer model, depositing material layer by layer only where required. This technology is expected to exert a profound impact on an increasing array of applications in architecture, engineering, construction, industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering, dental and medical industries, biotechnology, apparel, eyewear, education, geographic information systems, and many other fields.

Scientists at DOE facilities are using 3D printing technology to help industry adopt new manufacturing technologies, reduce life-cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions, lower production cost, and create new products and opportunities for high-paying jobs. A quick glimpse into some current DOE research projects provides an idea of how 3D printing technology is providing opportunities for practical advances in science.

Warmer winters are changing bird migratory patterns, warmer seawater is linked to coral reef bleaching in the Florida Keys and Puerto Rico, and more extreme climate events are affecting society and ecosystems. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), the increasing air and water temperatures, decreasing water availability across regions and seasons, increasing intensity and frequency of storm events, flooding and sea level rise have caused major issues to the energy sector over the past decade. Our world as we know it is evolving because of climate change.